


A New Home

by overlycompensatedapprentice



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Big Brother Phillip, Child Abuse, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, P.T. is a good dad, Some fluff too, my poor puppy, worried parents pt and charity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:42:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14072133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overlycompensatedapprentice/pseuds/overlycompensatedapprentice
Summary: This is based off a prompt that I got on tumblr:A scenario where Phillip is hurt badly enough that he has enough strength to get to the Barnums' doorstep before he passes out.As a bonus, he gets an offer to move in





	A New Home

Phillip staggered out the door of his father’s house, trying to stay on his feet. He had to get out of there. He had been foolish. Going home after the theatre? After his parents had seen him there with Anne? After he had stood up to them? It had been plain stupid. But he had done it out of habit, so preoccupied from the evening’s events that he hadn’t even thought about it. 

He should have known that they would be furious with him, and that they had no problem showing it. Painfully. His brain should have really picked that up before it was too late. 

Now Phillip could barely see where he was going as he stumbled toward the one place he could think of to go: The Barnums’ house. Phineas and Charity would let him stay the night. He tried to keep the sweat and blood out of his eyes but it was difficult. 

The Barnums lived maybe half a mile down the road. They lived in the same neighborhood as Phillip did. Phillip had been over their house on various occasions, whether to discuss business, or simply have dinner. He knew the way, but with the pounding in his head he didn’t know his left from his right, much less the way to the Barnums’

He managed to stumble his way down the street, glad that there were not too many people out and about this late in the evening. Hoping that he was at the right doorstep and hadn’t completely lost his sense of direction, he managed to raise his hand and knock on the Barnums’ door before he felt himself collapsing. The last thing he heard before everything faded was a timid voice calling out. 

 

Caroline Barnum was in the front room near the door, practicing a new dance move, when she heard a thump outside. “Hello?” She cautiously made her way over to the door. “Is someone there?” 

No answer. Her parents had told her not to open the door unless it was someone she knew, but Caroline sensed instinctively that this one was important. Cautiously, she opened the door just a crack and peered outside.

She cried out when she saw him. Phillip lay on the doorstep, bloody and unmoving, it looked like he’d been hit on the head. 

“Daddy!” Caroline screamed. “Come quick! Please Come!” 

 

Phineas had been in the kitchen helping Charity when he heard his daughter call. He took one look at Charity and they raced down the stairs. Phineas’s head was racing. Why was Caroline yelling? Why did she sound so frantic?

Phineas and Charity reached the bottom of the stairs. “Caroline, what is it, what’s wrong?” Phineas asked frantically. 

Caroline stood by the front door, tears streaming down her face. The door was slightly ajar, and she was looking at something outside. “I-it’s Phillip,” she managed. 

She moved into her mother’s arms as Phineas saw what had made Caroline so upset. “Oh my god.” 

Charity gasped as she took in the sight of Phillip, beaten and unconscious, lying on her doorstep. 

Phineas rushed outside and knelt on the doorstep next to his apprentice. “Phillip?” He gently shook him, but Phillip didn’t stir. He was out cold. “Phillip?” 

“Get him inside,” said Charity firmly. She led Caroline away, soothing her daughter with soft words and sending her to her room with the promise that everything would be just fine. 

Phineas picked Phillip up and swiftly brought him inside. He lay the boy on the sofa in the living room, and Charity came over with a washcloth she’d covered in water. 

Phineas placed it against Phillip’s forehead and watched him anxiously. He wondered what could have possibly happened for Phillip to end up this way, and at their doorstep no less. “Wake up,” he said, hoping Phillip could hear him. “Come on, Phillip, wake up.” 

“I’m going to go see about the girls,” Charity said. “Caroline’s probably hysterical. Tell me if anything changes.” 

She cast one more worried glance at Phillip, and left to go comfort her children. 

Upstairs, Caroline had gone straight to Helen. It was the only thing she could think of. Her parents were busy caring for Phillip, but she needed some comfort right about then. She had to tell her sister. Helen loved Phillip as much as Caroline did. 

“H-helen,” Caroline said. “Something terrible happened.” 

Helen had been busy playing all by herself. When she saw the tearful look on her older sister’s face she dropped her things and ran to her. 

“What happened?” Helen asked, growing worried, hugging Caroline tightly as the girl sobbed into her shoulder. 

“I-I was dancing down in the f-front room,” Caroline began, choking back more sobs. “A-and then I heard a pounding on the door. I-I opened it and P-P-Phillip...” 

Caroline burst into more sobs and her sister had to wait for her to continue. Helen was getting extremely worried now. What was so wrong that it had made her sister like this? And what did it have to do with Phillip?

“He was laying there, o-on the doorstep all bloody.” Caroline fell onto her bed and kept sobbing. “Daddy tried to wake him, b-but...h-he wouldn’t wake up. H-he got hurt somehow.” 

Helen started to cry too, and the two girls held each other as Charity made her way up the stairs. 

Charity had made her way up the stairs as quickly as possible, knowing that Caroline would not be so easily comforted. She opened the door and when she saw both her girls crying, her heart broke just a little. She sat down on the bed beside them.

“Phillip is going to be alright, girls,” she said gently. “There’s no reason to cry. He just got a little hurt, and he’ll be back on his feet in no time. He wouldn’t want you to be sad, or worry about him, now would he?”

“Did-did he wake up?” Caroline asked. 

“I came up here to check on you two, so I don’t know,” said Charity. “If I go down and check will you be alright by yourselves? I promise there’s nothing to be scared of.” She only hoped that she was right. She only hoped that Phillip would be fine. 

The girls nodded, and Charity gave them a little smile. “Alright. I’ll be right back. Close your eyes now, okay.” 

Once the candles were out and the wishing machine spun, providing the girls with a much-needed nightlight, Caroline spoke. “I wish… I wish for Phillip to be okay.” 

“M-me too,” Helen said, a tremor in her voice. 

There was a small silence before Caroline spoke again. “I-I know mommy said that Phillip wouldn’t want us to worry, b-but I can’t help it.” 

“The wishing machine will listen to us and keep him safe,” said Helen firmly, but even she was scared. She hugged her sister where she lay. They decided to sleep together, like they had before their parents had bought this house. It was comforting. 

Caroline moved over enough so that Helen could crawl in next to her. “R-remember the first time we met him, and he picked you up and swung you around. And gave us candy?” She asked. 

“Yeah,” Helen said softly. “He always gives us candy. And he’s always nice to us, even if he looks like he’s tired.”

Caroline nodded. “I wish he could stay forever.” 

“Me too,” said Helen, and both the girls slowly fell asleep, still worried about their big brother. 

Charity descended the stairs and entered the living room. Phineas still stood, looking down at the unconscious Phillip. “Do you think we should call a doctor?” Charity asked. 

Phineas shrugged, he didn’t seem to hear her. “I don’t know. Maybe if I knew what happened, exactly, We could figure out how to fix him, but as of right now, I’ve got nothing.” 

He turned at last to look at Charity. “How are the girls?” 

“Distraught, obviously,” Charity said with a sigh, tears pricking her own eyes as she looked down at Phillip. “I told them that I would come and check on him. I think it helped a little, but they were still worried sick.” 

“So am I,” Phineas said. “What the hell could have done this to him?” 

Charity had a few ideas, none of them pleasant, and was going to start telling her husband her speculations, when Phillip groaned, and his eyes fluttered open. “W-what?” 

 

Instantly, Phineas crouched down beside Phillip. “Are you alright? What happened? Caroline found you on the doorstep, out cold, you scared us all half to death.”

Phillip tried to sit up, but Charity pressed a hand on his shoulder. “Lie still,” she said. 

Phillip obeyed, settling back down onto the couch. “I was a fool is what happened,” he answered Phineas weakly. “God I can’t believe I was so stupid.” 

“What did you do?” asked Phineas. He hadn’t seen Phillip do anything wrong, and couldn’t imagine what led to this happening. “Did someone attack you on your way here?”

“No,” Phillip said. “I went back home is what I did. I should have known that they’d be there. That they would be beyond furious with me after tonight. But I was so preoccupied...” 

He trailed off and glanced toward the stairs. “You said that Caroline found me?” He cast sorrowed eyes at the stairs. “I must have scared her. I’m sorry… I didn’t know what else to do.” 

“Course you did,” Charity said. Oh, Phillip, you don’t have to apologize. I’m glad Caroline found you. I’m not sure what would have happened if you had just been left laying there.”   
“You said you went to your parents house,” Phineas asked. “Phillip, why on earth would you go there?” 

“Good question,” Phillip said. “I-I don’t know. Habit, I guess. Won’t make that mistake again, I shouldn’t have even gone near the place- but this evening’s been so crazy...”

Phineas nodded, Phillip didn’t need to explain more. He knew enough about Phillip’s family to know that what the boy had endured was not pleasant. If he ever saw that boy’s parents he’d have a thing or two to say to them about how they treated their son. 

“Besides,” Phillip added softly with a pained laugh. “They made it quite clear that I’m not welcome back there.” 

“Oh Phillip.” Charity reached out and squeezed his hand comfortingly. It could not be easy to go through what Phillip had just faced. “You’re going to stay right here until you’ve recovered completely.”

“And maybe even after that,” Phineas added. He was going to try his damn hardest to make sure that Phillip’s parents couldn’t even go near him. “You have a home here, Phillip.” 

“I can’t avoid them forever Phineas,” Phillip protested, knowing that meeting them again would be inevitable. He did not want to though, especially not until he was back on his feet. He knew he would be safe here, but he also didn’t want to drag the Barnums into something that should be just between him and his parents. 

“You wouldn’t be in the wrong if you did,” said Phineas. But he knew that it was hopeless to expect Phillip to be able to stay away from his parents forever. The Carlyles were too present. “Stay here for as long as you need to.”

Phillip nodded. “Thank you,” 

Charity let out a small laugh. “I feel like I’m getting deja-vu. Phillip, you need to stop saying that,” Every time he tried to thank them for their help and kindness, they gently scolded him. “You don’t need to thank us for anything. We weren’t just going to leave you.” 

Phillip knew they wouldn’t, they would never do something like that, but he still felt like he owed them every time they showed him so much kindness when his own family did not. “I know, but I feel like I should.” 

“Phillip,” Phineas said. “Do you think we should have a doctor come look at you?” 

Phillip shook his head immediately. No, a doctor would discover that this wasn’t the only time he had ever been injured, and that would only create more problems for him to deal with. He would rest it out and recover, just as he always had. “No, I’ll be fine,” He replied, almost casually. “I’ve had worse, and I’ve recovered on my own.” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Phineas and Charity both had looks of horror and anger on their faces. “Worse?” asked Phineas, looking like he was about ready to break down the Carlyles’ door and give them a piece of his mind. “They’ve done worse than something like this? Something that leaves you unconscious on our doorstep?” 

Phillip shook his head quickly, not wanting to go into the details of what had happened. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’ll be fine with a little rest and we can forget that this ever happened.”

Charity and Phineas exchanged looks. Phillip could usually tell what Phineas was thinking, but this time, he was at a loss. 

“I’m going to check on the girls,” Charity said. “Phin, stay here.” 

She left the room quickly without saying anything else, leaving Phillip and Phineas alone. 

There was a long silence after she left, finally Phineas spoke. “Phillip,” he said. “I need you to do me a favor.” 

“What?” Phillip asked. He would gladly do the man a favor if he could, he owed PT Barnum so much that a favor might be a good thing. “What favor?” 

“I need you to stay here,” Phineas replied simply. “Be the man of the house while I’m gone. It’ll get you away from your parents, and I’ll rest easier when I’m away, knowing that you’re here with them.” 

“While you’re away?” Phillip asked, incredulously. Why would Phineas leave, the circus was here, his family was here. “Where are you going?” 

“Jenny Lind, an opportunity like her isn’t going to come our way again,” Phineas said, eyes sparkling with excitement at the endless possibilities that he was picturing. “I am going to take her on a tour, around the country. I already spoke with her, and I’m making the arrangements.”

Phillip didn’t know what to say. His first instinct was to tell Phineas that the opportunity to stay at home with his family, and the circus, where he belonged was all the opportunity he needed, but he didn’t have the strength to argue right then. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll stay.” If he couldn’t convince Phineas not to do this, then at least he could stay with the girls while Phineas ran off. It was better than them having no one. 

“Thank you,” said Phineas, a great weight taken off his shoulders. He trusted Phillip to make sure that his family would be happy, blinded in that moment to the fact that all they really needed to be happy was his presence. “Phillip, you should rest.” 

Phillip nodded, leaning back against the pillows on the couch and closing his eyes. “Goodnight,” he murmured. 

“Goodnight, Phillip,” Phineas replied before leaving the room, wondering how he would tell his wife that he would be going away. At least she’d have Phillip around to help her. 

 

A little while after PT Barnum left the room, a pitter of little feet could be heard through the now silent house. Phillip was still awake, looking at the designs on the ceiling when he heard her come in. 

“Phillip?” Caroline asked in a soft voice. 

He sat up with some difficulty, and smiled at her. “Shouldn’t you be asleep right now?” he asked. 

“I was asleep,” Caroline said. “Then mommy came in and I woke up. I wanted to see if you were okay.” 

“I’m alright,” Phillip reassured. “I’m sorry that I scared you earlier. Come here.” 

Caroline crawled up next to him and he carefully slid an arm around her. 

“It’s alright,” Caroline replied, snuggling closer to him. “How did you get hurt?” 

Phillip didn’t know what to say. He could not possibly tell her that it was his parents’ fault. She was too sweet and innocent still to damage her faith in the world like his had been. “It doesn’t matter,” He said gently. “What matters is I’m okay now.” 

“You won’t get hurt like that again?” she asked. She recognized that he had evaded her question completely, but she just wanted to make sure he was going to really be alright. 

Phillip wasn’t sure what to say to that either. There was no guarantee his parents would never hurt him again, there was no guarantee that something else wouldn’t hurt him. But for Caroline, he nodded, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “I won’t.” 

“You should stay,” Caroline said softly. “You should stay here with us.”

“You know,” Phillip smiled down at her. “I just might.” 

Caroline smiled, she was satisfied with that answer for the moment, and fell asleep quickly in his arms. He nodded off too, eventually, and when Phineas came down the next morning he smiled at the sight. It was a picture that he would carry in his mind for the entire time that he would be away. It would be on his mind when Jenny Lind tried to seduce him into starting an affair, and it would be what convinced him to come back home.


End file.
